Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star ...

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1 Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star ...Hubble Heritage image of Sagittarius Star field. Note that along the horizontal axis, the image is 13.3 light-years across.Ask audience what they notice by looking at this image. Hopefully they will notice the different colors. You can then ask them what the different colors mean [different temperatures]Image from

2 How I Wonder What You Are ...Stars haveDifferent colorsWhich indicate different temperaturesRed stars- coolerWhite/blue stars- hotterThe hotter a star is, the faster it burns its life away.By looking at previous slide, audience should determine that stars have different colors, and deduce that this means different temperatures..They can deduce that hotter stars burn faster by analogy with a regular fire.

3 Stellar Nursery Space is filled with the stuff to make stars.M16 - Eagle Nebula Pillars(from Hubble,These are columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars. Dense clouds of molecular hydrogen gas (two atoms of hydrogen in each molecule) and dust that have survived longer than their surroundings in the face of a flood of ultraviolet light from hot, massive newborn stars (off the top edge of the picture).As the pillars themselves are slowly eroded away by the ultraviolet light, small globules of even denser gas buried within the pillars are uncovered. These globules have been dubbed "EGGs." EGGs is an acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules," but it is also a word that describes what these objects are. Forming inside at least some of the EGGs are embryonic stars -- stars that abruptly stop growing when the EGGs are uncovered and they are separated from the larger reservoir of gas from which they were drawing mass. Eventually, the stars themselves emerge from the EGGs as the EGGs themselves succumb to photoevaporation.

5 New Stars are not quiet !The young binary system XZ Tau. Gas from an unseen disk around one or both of the stars is channeled through magnetic fields surrounding the binary system and then is forced out into space at nearly 300,000 miles per hour (540,000 kilometers per hour). This outflow, which is only about 30 years old, extends nearly 60 billion miles (96 billion kilometers).FromExpulsion of gas from a young binary star system

7 FusionInside a star, the density and temperature increase toward the center, where energy is generated by nuclear fusion.Fusion reactions involving elements other than hydrogen can produce heavier elements, but few heavier than iron.The energy produced according to the equation E = mc2 stabilizes a star by producing the pressure needed to counteract gravity.

8 Hydrostatic equilibriumA Balancing ActEnergy released from nuclear fusion counter-acts inward force of gravity.E = MC2Throughout its life, these two forces determine the stages of a star’s life.This is an important principle which governs the life stages of a star.Hydrostatic equilibrium

9 Star Life CycleWhat happens during a star’s life cycle depends on its mass.Higher mass stars live shorter lives!It takes about 10 billion years for a star with the mass of the Sun to convert all of the hydrogen in its core into helium.When the hydrogen in its core is gone, a star has a helium center and outer layers made of hydrogen-dominated gas.

10 The Beginning of the End: Red GiantsSome hydrogen continues to react in a thin layer at the outer edge of the helium core. This forces the outer layers of the star to expand and cool and the star becomes a red giant.As the star cools it begins to contract and heat again, eventually starting fusion all over.When the helium in the core is all used up, the star is left with a core made of carbon.

11 The end for solar type starsAfter Helium exhausted, outer layers of star expelledPlanetary NebulaePlanetary nebula - after He consumed, core collapses again. Outer atmosphere expelled, and then ionized (I.e. glows) by the hot remaining coreFrom Left to Right:Ring Nebula - true colors, representing different elements. helium (blue), oxygen (green), and nitrogen (red).NGC The central star of NGC 2440 is one of the hottest known, with surface temperature near 200,000 degrees Celsius. The complex structure of the surrounding nebula suggests to some astronomers that there have been periodic oppositely directed outflows from the central star, but in the case of NGC 2440 these outflows have been episodic, and in different directions during each episode. The nebula is also rich in clouds of dust, some of which form long, dark streaks pointing away from the central star. In addition to the bright nebula, which glows because of fluorescence due to ultraviolet radiation from the hot star, NGC 2440 is surrounded by a much larger cloud of cooler gas which is invisible in ordinary light but can be detected with infrared telescopes. NGC 2440 lies about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis.NGC colors represent temperatures. Filaments made of dust condense out from the cooling gas. These filaments are rich in carbon[Images from Hubble Heritage:

13 White dwarfs At center of Planetary Nebula lies a White Dwarf.Size of the Earth with Mass of the Sun “A ton per teaspoon”Inward force of gravity balanced by repulsive force of electrons.Basic characteristics of white dwarfs: about the size of the earth, with a mass of about the sun. 1 million g/cm3 = “1 ton/teaspoon”White Dwarfs are stable because inward force of gravity is balanced by the repulsive force of the electrons.

14 Fate of high mass starsAfter Helium exhausted, core collapses again until it becomes hot enough to fuse Carbon into Magnesium or Oxygen.12C + 12C --> 24MgOR 12C + 4H --> 16OThrough a combination of processes, successively heavier elements are formed and burned.After the red giant stage, there is a series of collapses and further nuclear burning. Fusion creates heavy elements from light elements.

15 The End of the Line for Massive StarsMassive stars burn a succession of elements.Iron is the most stable element and cannot be fused further.Instead of releasing energy, it uses energy.Fusion stops at Iron, and star collapses under its own weight.The star contains products of the fusion processes.

16 Supernova !SN1987A before and after image from Anglo-Australian Observatory. It’s in the LMC, 160,000 light-years distant.When fusion process no longer produces energy to support the star, the core of the star collapses. With nothing to stop it, the atoms are crushed together, and the infalling material bounces off the superdense core, causing the explosion.A supernova produces 1040 erg/s (a million times more than the sun). The supernova disperses the elements it has created. In addition, the energy of the explosion creates elements heavier than iron.

17 Supernova Remnants: SN1987Aba) Optical - Feb 2000Illuminating material ejected from the star thousands of years before the SNb) Radio - Sep 1999c) X-ray - Oct 1999d) X-ray - Jan 2000The shock wave from the SN heating the gascdOptical and X-ray images of Supernova 1987aHubble image shows brightening of ring of material that was ejected from the star thousands of years before the supernova.The Chandra images show the shock wave (traveling at 4,500 kilometers per second = 10 million miles per hour), smashing into portions of the optical ring. The gas in the expanding shell has a temperature of about 10 million degrees Celsius, and is visible only with an X-ray telescope.In 2001, SN87A underwent transition from a few isolated hot spots in the optical to having many interaction sites distributed around the ring. See IAUC 7623Hubble/Radio/Chandra image of SN1987A from

18 Elements from SupernovaeAll X-ray EnergiesSiliconThese images show the distribution of silicon, calcium, and iron in Cas A. Colors represent intensity, with yellow as most intense, followed by red, purple and green.“All X-ray Energies” represents Chandra’s broadband energy range. It is symmetric likely due to either synchrotron radiation from high energy particles in the magnetic field of the remnant, or from shock waves traveling through material ejected by the star thousands of years ago.The silicon image shows a bright asymmetry, possibly due to an assymetry in the explosionThe calcium image shows a similar assymetry, but is not as bright as siliconThe iron image suggests that the layers of the star were overturned either before or during the explosion.All images are 8.5 arc minutes on a side (28.2 light years for a distance to Cas A of 11,000 light years)SeeCalciumIron

19 What’s Left After the SupernovaNeutron Star (If mass of core < 5 x Solar)Under collapse, protons and electrons combine to form neutrons.10 Km acrossBlack Hole (If mass of core > 5 x Solar)Not even compacted neutrons can support weight of very massive stars.Neutron Stars and black holesNeutron Stars form as protons and electrons in the “superdense” core combine to form neutrons. Re- the core is collapsing under it’s own weight.If there’s too much mass, the formation of neutrons cannot stop the collapse. The neutrons themselves combine and “disappear” under the collapse.

20 A whole new life: X-ray binariesIn close binary systems, material flows from normal star toNeutron Star or Black Hole. X-rays emitted from disk of gas around Neutron Star/Black Hole.If the neutron star or black hole is part of a binary star system, material from the normal star flows to the compact star, emitting x-rays. The system has a whole new life as an x-ray binary.Illustration fromAlso see

23 Reprise: the Life CycleStars are either low mass or high mass. Their mass determines their fate.One might note that stars are not quiescent even during the time they steadily fuse Hydrogen. For example, our own sun is very active.Sun-like StarsMassive Stars